For Tube Fashion Victims?

First we had the Oyster card watches and now some other London Underground "fashion" accessories. Well, just one accessory, as sadly there's only one in stock.


I like the glittery background it's shot on. Other than that, I'll leave the jewellery maker to speak for themselves

"Handmade cababochon using a map of the london underground. This map has been protected using a plastic clear cab. Cababochon is set in a silver plated mount. I have added a silver plated chain necklace with bolt clasp opening."

If anyone has the slightest idea what cababochon is (without looking it up on Google), I'd love to know.

Many thanks to Jane Perrone for sending it through.

If you'd like to buy the necklace it's only $18 and is probably worth its weight in cababochon.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, August 29, 2008 Permalink

Roundels Not on the London Underground

Many thanks to everyone who has sent me a photo of a Tube Roundel not in it's normal home on the London Underground. As the roundel is 100 years old this year (see the Roundel Scavenger Hunt which is photographically celebrating this - BTW only 6 places left if you want to go), it seemed fitting to post the latest ones I've been sent.

Firstly we have the wonderful "Super Funky Station", taken by Jon T in Italy.


I also love this mini cab photo taken in Hucknall. Not in Mick Hucknall but in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire.


The firm is called Torkard Cars and as Lizzie who spotted the cab said "Tut Tut".

If you'd like to see the full set of Roundels not on the Underground they're here.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, August 29, 2008 Permalink

Girl Geek Dinner at Google takes the cake

Last night I celebrated the 3rd year of the Girl Geek Dinners with a lovely dinner at Google's head office in London. You can catch up with most of what went on by taking a look at my Twitter stream.


I have been in Google's HQ once before, but for many it was their first time there and there was clearly some excitement about being at Google Towers. A number of us were taking photos and my friend L J Rich tried to take a picture of a screen in the reception showing all of the searches (minus the ones on sex) that were being made on Google. Apparently this wasn't allowed though.

For me it was great to catch up with friends I hadn't seen for ages, including my old boss, who is now Marketing Director at Webjam. As some of you may know we used Webjam's platform for the Nom Nom Nom site, where we did a blogger's version of Master Chef earlier this year. It was also a mini reunion as participants, L J & Nicole hadn't seen each other since the "cook off".


Nicole is one of the main helpers of the London Girl Geek Dinners, and plans to do some interviews and fun stuff with us over the coming months, so watch this space.

There were some interesting speeches after dinner including a great one from a Google girl on user centred design and how they build apps for mobile phones and the interesting challenge of putting YouTube onto mobiles.


It finished with a depressing panel session on work life balance which basically highlighted for me that even though it's the 21st century, we still mention the dreaded word "glass ceiling" and that women in particular feel they have to sacrifice success at work if they decide to have children. Luckily there were birthday cakes to brighten the mood.


I woke this morning to a lovely message from food blogger Rachel in the US who amongst other things runs a blog about cupcakes. She'd seen the excitement about the cup cakes & Google on Twitter and used one of my pictures in her blog and also noted that the toppings of the cupcakes were much more popular with one eater.

If you'd like to see the rest of my pictures of the Girl Geek Dinner at Google they're here. Hi to all the girls (plus a few guys) who were there last night and a big thanks to Sarah Blow and her band of helpers for organising it & of course to Google for their hospitality.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, August 29, 2008 Permalink

Somers Town - Not a Eurostar ad

If you've been following my Twitter stream you might have noticed that I was going to see Shane Meadows' new film Somers Town last night. It's been in the news a lot, not just because it's the first film that Meadows has produced that is shot outside of the North of England & not just because it's been wowing people at the Edinburgh Film Festival - but because it began life as a project funded by Eurostar.


Eurostar, sponsoring a film? Isn't it going to be all shots of people with luggage getting off the London Underground at King's Cross, close ups of tickets, people saying how cheap and fast it is to travel to Paris and lingering shots of The Meeting Place statue at St Pancras Station?


It's far, far from that.

It's a really gentle, funny and beautifully shot black and white film about the relationship between two teenage boys. A runaway from the North of England, played with a cocksure matey & comic arrogance by 16 year old Thomas Turgoose, (who also starred in Meadows' award winning This is England) meets Polish Marek played by Piotr Jagiello. Tommo stays "holed up" in Marek's flat in Somers Town - an area of London around King's Cross. They meet a beautiful French girl and both fall in love with her. That's essentially the plot, there's no real twists in the story but I won't say what happens in the end.

I saw the horrific and disturbingly brilliant Dead Man's Shoes by Shane Meadows a week or so ago on Channel 4 and it gave me nightmares. This film could not be further from Meadows' gritty and violent work, well it wouldn't with Eurostar being behind it. Can you imagine "Travel on the Eurostar and get drugged up & beaten around the head by a gas mask wearing vigilante"?

It's not a "glorified corporate video" though. The original 10 minute film commissioned by the rail company intrigued Meadows so much that he turned it into a 72 minute film which was shot in ten days.

Yeah, you get to see the odd shot of the new Eurostar station building works (Marek's dad is one of the workers) and the towers of St Pancras station form a cathedral-like backdrop to many of the outdoor scenes. If you're expecting a railway film, you'll be disappointed. But if you want a slice of working class & immigrant life in London living within the shadow of a major station, you'll be happy.


Somers Town opened on August 22nd and is in cinemas nationwide. I saw it last night with Jemimah and Rory at the Tricycle cinema in Kilburn, which was surprisingly empty. This was good news for us, as we got to watch a great film, not at West End prices, in a quiet and comfy cinema.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, August 28, 2008 Permalink

Metroland trip on 1930's and 1920's trains

On Sunday 14 September, two historic London Underground trains will be taking the classic Metroland John Betjeman / Julian Barnes suburban journey between Harrow and Amersham.


The 1938 art deco tube train that I travelled on with some friends earlier this year will be returning to passenger service again for this special day out. It will be joined by an even older Sarah Siddons electric locomotive first conceived in 1923, but now restored to its former glory. Sarah Siddons "makes her first return to passenger service for seven years, after a sparkling repaint in her original maroon colours. She is the oldest working main line electric locomotive in Britain, and will pull a set of 1950s coaches."

When you get to the end of the line at Amersham there will be some classic 1950's buses taking you on a free journey to Amersham Old Town to enjoy Amersham Heritage Day, where you can get free entry to the local museum or just spend your time in Amersham.

Tickets for the heritage trains must be booked in advance on 020 7565 7298 and are £20.00. However, if you want to make a full day of it and get the first art deco 1938 Tube train departing from Harrow on the Hill at 10.26 (the only trip on the day to run to Amersham via Watford) this costs £25.00 per passenger.

All tickets are then valid for unlimited travel on the Heritage Train services throughout the day (subject to space being available).

Visit the London Transport Museum website for train times & full details.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Wednesday, August 27, 2008 Permalink

Pets on the Tube

As much as I love my cat Bolli, there's something about dogs that I can't resist. Yesterday morning I was faced by the big brown eyes of the hound below on the London Underground on the way to work


He or she looked so mournful and had that real "hang dog" look about it that said "commuting sucks and I so don't want to be on this carriage".

I spotted a much happier looking dog last week when I was travelling to Robert McInstosh's house for the Twitter Wine Tasting. Although the dog was only happier because it had the opportunity to run along beside its owner on a bike


I'm sure the boys shouldn't be riding their bikes down a platform like that, but it certainly took some skill working their way amongst the other commuter and exercising a dog at the same time.

I've still not seen a Tube or Train dog recently that tops the wonderful Elvis - my first and currently only Canine Tube Fashion Victim.


I never tire of looking at his screwed up little face and strange curled up tongue. He rocks!

Here's Bolli doing his Elvis impression at the weekend:


OK he was eating a spider, but it's a similar look.

If you spot a cute or not so cute pet on your train travels please let us know.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Wednesday, August 27, 2008 Permalink

London Transport represents London at Olympic Handover

Sadly, I never watched London's eight minute piece in the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games live. However, thanks to the internet - BBC iPlayer, Twitter and various online news sources I managed to see how London took the Olympic torch from Beijing in yesterday's handover ceremony. Many people including myself believe that London won't be able to live up to Beijing when we get the Olympics in 2012, however in the ceremony a double decker bus transformed into a err ... hedge-like Transformer, so perhaps there may be a tiny glimmer of hope.

Video from BBC here

"Being on a lift in a London bus kicking a ball into a stadium is something I've never done before and as an East End boy that makes me proud", said David Beckham in an interview before the ceremony.

The Guardian described it well "Enter the bus. After the cinematic drama of Beijing's opening and closing ceremonies, the Waldorf and Statlers of Her Majesty's Press had been waiting for London's straight-to-video offering. It wasn't a complete turkey, but it's probably fair to say 2012 has yet to give the world its House of Flying Daggers.

Eight minutes isn't long, though, and the double-decker had to navigate its way round the edge of the stadium to a bus-stop queue of snazzily dressed folk with umbrellas. Apparently this was intended to symbolise "the British preoccupation with the weather", which seemed less than enticing. Come to London! It'll tip down.


There was no room on the bus, which would have made this a cinéma vérité look at capital life had the bus not begun turning into a hedge, like a particularly benign Transformer. Then it tipped out a little girl, chosen by Blue Peter viewers (if you can believe that these days).....


Could London do without having to succumb to its fifth "swinging London" rebrand since 1995? There wasn't time to dwell on it, because everyone knew the bus was saving its most precious cargo till last. And suddenly he was there, and in an unbranded tracksuit, of all things. Behold, world, our Beckham! Look on his works, ye mighty, and despair! This guy the crowd did recognise, and they gave him the biggest reception of Britain's segment by far. One free kick into the crowd later, and London shunted themselves off, umbrellas twirling rather wanly.."

Last week on this blog, we were pondering some real London Olympic sports or some London Underground sports for 2012 games and it appears that I have a little bit of Mystic Meg in me. I would have loved to seen Brompton racing in the Olympics and said "But why not have races in Brompton cycling? You'd have to unassemble your bike and get all your rucksacks & stuff together while leaping off a Tube train in the fastest possible time."


So "imagine my surprise" when I found out on Twitter (thanks JamesCridland) that the Olympic handover to London involved Gold medallist & cyclist Chris Hoy riding a Brompton bike.


Sweet.


Sorry James no idea who will win the National next year.

The BBC's coverage of the closing ceremony was very impressive and even I, as a card card carrying non sport watcher, enjoyed it on iPlayer. They gave some lessons to be learnt for London and lesson seven is "Trains, Trains, Trains", as the BBC presenter said that Beijing's subway system was exemplary.


You can join the discussion as to whether the Tube system will be able to cope with the Olympics in an earlier post.

I love China's take on London getting the games as chinaview.cn describes the handover "The transformation of the famous London bus also provides a powerful example of the urban and practical being transformed into the dynamic and spectacular, symbolizing London's vision to use the power of the Games as a catalyst for change."

Not quite sure how "dynamic & spectacular" a hedge is. But if it's a hedge sprouting London's Leona Lewis (the best thing to come out of X Factor - I predicted X Factor rejects for our opening ceremony) and Jimmy Page singing Whole Lotta Love, perhaps they have a point.


Here's hoping I'm proved wrong and perhaps we'll see a Tube train transforming into a "dynamic & spectacular" transport system for 2012. Or then again, it may just be trundled onto the opening ceremony and transform itself into sardine can!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, August 25, 2008 Permalink

Tube Kitchen Clothing & Roundel Scavenger Hunt

Something for the weekend. Even though the Summer Bank Holiday in the UK isn't a big "eating" or "large family meal" occasion, you might find yourself doing a bit more cooking over the three day weekend. If so the London Underground has you sorted with this amazing Tube seat moquette apron & oven mitt


Looks like the entire range of Transport for London's shop is now online. So no worried if you can't get over to Covent Garden you can still create that "in carriage" look for your own kitchen no matter where you live in the world. I'd love to see Gordon Ramsey in this. (Thanks to Whateleydude for the initial prod on this)

London Transport Museum Roundel Scavenger Hunt

If you can get yourself to Covent Garden on Saturday 27th September, the London Transport Museum are holding another of their popular photographic scavenger hunts.

"You've seen it at bus stops, you've seen it at every Underground stations from Morden to Edgware via Bank! But did you know this autumn the Roundel - The famous circle and bar logo will be 100 years old this year?

We're calling all photographers to celebrate with a Flickr scavenger hunt. Can you crack the cryptic clues leading you to a host of Roundels hiding in the City? There'll be prizes for the winners and photos taken on the day will have the chance to be featured in the Museum's brand new Online Roundel Browser - an interactive part of our website with games and resources all about the famous Roundel design.


To sign up to take part in the scavenger hunt you'll need to log on and sign up to Flickr if you're not already a member at www.flickr.com

Then go to the London Transport Museum Roundel Scavenger Hunt group on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/groups/ltmuseum_roundel_scavenger_hunt/ and follow the instructions to join in.

Deadline for signing up is 30th August 2008

Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis."

The last two were brill and places go very quickly, so if you want a place sign up ASAP.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, August 22, 2008 Permalink

Signs of Summer Ending on the Tube

It's Bank Holiday weekend in the UK, so no work on Monday - Hoorah. But that means it's nearly the end of Summer - Boo. Earlier in the week I saw people coming back from one of the last big Summer festivals - the V Festival. So no more flowery wellies or having to dodge dazed looking travellers lugging around muddy rucksacks on the London Underground.






Another sign of summer ending is usually people starting to wear more clothes. But as we've had such a wet and rubbish August, I haven't really been noticing much of that.

What I have noticed however is a bit of A Clockwork Orange trend with guys wearing bowler hats on the Tube.

I don't mean the typically British pin striped suited man I spotted a while back at King's Cross.


But much younger guys who appear to be looking a bit like Alex and his droogies.

Coming back from the Twitter Wine Tasting last night I saw a guy in a red bowler hat at Turnham Green but was too slow to get my camera out. However I managed to capture the following men at Holborn.




Weirdly reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange but they certainly didn't look as menacing. Anyone else seen more Bowler hatted guys or how do you know summer's coming to an end on the Tube?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, August 22, 2008 Permalink

Hugel Live Twitter Tasting

As mentioned in the post above, last night I was part of a Live Twitter Tasting, that's a Wine Tasting not tasting live Twitters.

Our excellent host of the physical tasting Robert McIntosh explains it far more competently that I could this morning: "What makes this tasting different from 99.99% of all other wine tastings happening in the world right now is that it will take place live, in Europe and the US, using Twitter and also, because it can happen simultaneously anywhere in the world, we are going to be able to be joined by Etienne Hugel himself."


Etienne Hugel's family have been producing Alsace wine since the 15th century, so goodness knows what his ancestors would have made of a bunch of us centuries later taking digital pictures of the tasting and chatting to people in the US.




What made it very special and great fun was that Robert had decided to put on a great dinner where he and Andrew Barrow from Spittoon (WineScribbler on twitter) matched each course with the Alsace wines we were tasting.




My twitter reviews are on the photos of the wines below:

Wine 1 Les Fleurs d'Alsace
Wine 2 Pinot Blanc
Wine 3 Gewurztraminer
Wine 4 Reisling
Wine 5 Dessert Gewurztraminer

And of course the company was brilliant! Many thanks to Kai, Lea, Sandrine, Lolly, James, Mex, Jeremy, Niamh and of course Robert & Andrew for making it such a great evening. The rest of my photos from the Twitter Live Tasting are here and you can catch up with my live tweets at my Twitter stream.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, August 22, 2008 Permalink

Wood Lane Tube Station sneak peek

Thanks to James for sending me a picture of the new Wood Lane London Underground station. Work is still going on and it's not due for opening yet but some "unwrapping" was done last week.


The new station with an old station name (are you still following this) will be on the Hammersmith & City Line and should be opened later this year. There used to be two Wood Lane Tube stations. The one on the Central line opened 100 years ago in May 1908, but was closed in 1947 and replaced by White City station. The Wood Lane station on the Metropolitan Line also opened in 1908 but closed in 1914.

For more on the new Wood Lane see TfL's pdf " The first new station to be built on an existing London Underground line for more than 70 years. It will connect customers from central London with the new White City development, using the Hammersmith & City line. The state-of-the-art station has been designed to accommodate football match crowds and will benefit people who live and work in the area." There's also more here.

However one of the old Wood Lanes (no idea which one) saw light of day in the 1970's. It was featured in a seventies UK sci-fi TV series The Tomorrow People. The Tomorrow People were a group of trendy teleporting teenagers whose base "The Lab" was in a disused Tube station.


"With a hiss and a rumble the underground train moved slowly out of the station, treating its discarded passengers to a low, whining farewell as it disappeared into the tunnel. The assorted throng of theatre-goers and businessmen kept late at the office scurried for the escalators, hardly sparing a glance for the two boys in Hell's Angel jerkins who hung around a chocolate machine at the rear end of the platform. Watching until the attendant was out of sight, they immediately turned back and raised a small trapdoor hidden close to the tunnel entrance. In a moment they were bent low in a sewer-like gallery which ran off at an angle and eventually brought them to that little-known part of the London Underground which was doomed to remain forever sealed off and silent."

If you want to find out more about the old Wood Lanes, check out Hywel Williams' disused Tube Stations site.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, August 21, 2008 Permalink

Lucky Tube Seats - CCTV style ads for Nokia N-Gage

Nokia N-Gage have filmed a series of six "undercover" CCTV style videos on the London Underground to promote their N-Gage next generation mobile gaming service. The videos capture "the bemused reactions of passengers witnessing a man so engrossed in his game that he does anything in order to avoid any disruption to his match."


There's one of a guy in his bathrobe on the Tube playing the game as well, which is below. However, I found that one a bit lame and way too overacted, but maybe that's just me.


Anyway the videos aim to get people to visit www.n-gage.com/fifa08. There are four other simliar Tube filmed videos there. Plus if you're in the UK you've got till the end of August to get a free FIFA 08 license if you have a compatible Nokia device (N95, N95 8gb, N81, N81 8gb, N82). You can also download N-Gage from there.

I don't do gaming so it'd be wasted on me, but some of you may want to download it.

Thumbs up to the first ad though, the mildly curious, but not really interested look on the guy that gives up his seat is a fairly typical Tube reaction. Mainly he just wants to get back to sleep & be left alone in peace.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, August 21, 2008 Permalink

London Olympic Sports for the Tube

While we're all shocked at Team GB doing so well in the Olympics (We seem to be good at sitting down sports - rowing and cycling and BMX'ing), I thought it might be interesting to see what London or rather London Underground sports that we might excel at when the Olympics comes here in 2012.


So cycling, yes we appear to be good at cycling. BMX'ing we're tipped to win another Gold. But why not have races in Brompton cycling? You'd have to unassemble your bike and get all your rucksacks & stuff together while leaping off a Tube train in the fastest possible time.

Tug of War? That would be a good sport to re-introduce. How many times have you seen people pulling their bags and cases from the lock tight closing doors on the Tube?


It takes Hurculean strength to open the doors when they're shut. I've seen some pretty strong commuters on the Tube doing this.

Strap Hanging or that gymnastic thing where you hang yourself from rings on the end of ropes. We'd be good at that.


We might even get some branded Olympic strap hangers like the ones London Annie saw in Beijing (pictured above)

We could even introduce "hanging upside down bat-like from the Tube poles in weird boots" to the games


That would make for some err ... interesting viewing.


Any other ideas for typically London or London Underground sports (like the hurdles Jon suggested above) which would give us a fighting chance of doing well in the Olympics, much appreciated.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Wednesday, August 20, 2008 Permalink

Tube Strike Off - RMT & Tube Lines reach agreement

Tube Lines reaches agreement in principle with the RMT, so that means that 72 hour strike planned for 20th August is off.

Tube Lines and the RMT have today reached agreement in principle on a two year pay deal that will suspend the industrial action and ensure that normal services run on the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines.

The RMT will now ballot its members with a recommendation to accept the two year pay deal being offered.

Terry Morgan, Chief Executive of Tube Lines said:

“This is a good deal for Tube Lines. We are pleased that, following constructive discussions with the RMT today, we have been able to agree in principle a two year deal that will satisfy all parties.”


See Tube Lines for the full release.

Hoorah, guess the RMT must have realised this was going to be one of their most unpopular strikes to date.


I was so tempted to add - "So expect delays to all destinations" to the end of the line on the poster above.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, August 19, 2008 Permalink

Oyster Card Watches Craze post in b3ta

The one and only time my blog gets mentioned in b3ta and I've only just noticed. Over the years I've tried getting a mention in b3ta and nowt, nada, nothing. Now, when I'm too busy either clubbing most of the night (License 2 Live Launch Party) & going to Brighton, to read newsletters or check my stats - this happens:


B3ta report on my "Oyster Card Watches Can get you fined" post in their weekly "What happened next?" feature, where they follow up on previous b3ta stories.

Here's what they said in this week's issue 341 -

* DISSOLVING OYSTER CARDS and sticking them in watches or magic wands, as recommended a few issues back, could land you with a fine. Apparently it's now "the latest craze", which must make the ticket barriers fun at rush hour.
http://snipurl.com/oysterpoo [london-underground_blogspot_com]

Thank you so much b3ta that's made my year! In case anyone's wondering how I noticed, I've just looked at my stats and traffic trebled on Friday, and it's still at twice its normal rate.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, August 19, 2008 Permalink

Tube Strike Notice for 20th August 2008

From Friday you might have seen notices like the one below about the upcoming Tube Strike. In case you didn't know from noon on the 20th August till noon on Saturday 23rd August, around a thousand London Underground maintenance workers who work for Tube Lines will be staging a 72 hour strike over pay.


Now even though this is maintenance workers and not drivers or other London Underground staff, it is going to seriously affect the Northern, Jubilee and Piccadilly Lines as a number of safety procedures won't be in place or have been checked and, quite rightly, the staff might not be able to run trains on those lines.

It'll also mean that other lines will be very overcrowded as we all try to find alternative routes to travel. The notice above is as neutral as it can be - saying "may" and "might", but personally I can't see the pay dispute being resolved in the next 24 hours.

But who knows, maybe RMT leader Bob Crow will have a brain wave and decide that a 4.95% payrise isn't that bad after all. Specially when it's over the rate of inflation (4.4%) and the average pay rise in the UK is only 3.7% and emergency workers like nurses are only looking at a pay increase of 2.5%

It was quite funny that my friend Ms.Jen from the US left the following comment on my Flickr picture when the strike was first announced:

"They schedule strikes? Shouldn't it be rather spontaneous to really mess up the works?

T'would seem that a scheduled strike is a fancy name for a holiday holding a sign... ;-) "

That's what quite a few people in the UK think as well. Thankfully though legally the RMT and other unions operating "essential" services have to give notice and can't carry out the sudden "wildcat" walkouts of the past.


Watch this blog, TfL's website and the news for details of whether this week's strike goes ahead and get prepared for the next one which is planned for noon on Wednesday September 3rd till noon on Saturday September 6th.


Update - Jon Justice spotted an interesting piece in the Evening Standard from Tube Lines' Chief Exec who believes the strike is purely political and not about pay.

UPDATE - I was wrong about them reaching an agreement - they have!!! Which means the Tube Strike is off!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, August 19, 2008 Permalink

London by the Sea or Brighton Rocks

When public transport works, it can work really well. I went to Brighton at the weekend to go to the first Brighton Social Media Club or Tuttle Club (Brighton's version of what's been happening in London) and to see some old friends and family. It's really easy to see why so many people commute from Brighton to London. My train left Brighton station on Sunday evening at 16.50 and I was back home in Kew at just gone 18.00. That's an hour and ten minutes. On a Sunday. My normal commute by London Underground to the City takes longer.


Regular commuters might find, that like the Tube, things don't always run as smoothly. In fact the postcard above with headlines from The Argus, Brighton's Daily Newspaper, show that rain, or rather drizzle can cause delays to the trains there.

It was quite nice being a tourist in a place like Brighton because it feels really familiar to me, and it's not known as "London by the Sea" for nothing. It's very cosmopolitan, busy, trendy, cool, fashionable etc etc, yet it's got a beach! Which rocks!


Instead of pigeons (nodded to on the signs above), you have seagulls. It's always been a seaside tourist attraction for Londoners and is now fast becoming a magnet for Hen and Stag parties. Many of the seaside shops really cater for that, but even the cute crafty "Covent Garden-like" shops in the famous Brighton Lanes, can't resist providing gifts for Girls and Guys who wanna have fun.


I spotted some fab Carry On mugs and plastic camping or picnic plates, beakers & dishes. I had to buy the Carry on at Your Convenience one as it's a brill Carry on film about strikes. With this Wednesday's Tube Strike on the way, I might find some comfort in thinking about the choruses of "Everybody Out" and "Right down tools" spoofed in the film where "strikes were called at the drop of a hat".


I didn't buy any Brighton Rock this time around (I love Rock), but I'm sure to go down to Brighton Tuttle again and will nab some then.


I must thank Nom Nom Nom'er James Whatley, Ben Smith and Dan Lane for driving me down and for being great travelling companions. Along with Ewan MacLeod they were filming a video on Brighton Beach and at Brighton Tuttle for Mobile Industry Review (formerly smstextnews).


The video & podcast are on Mobile Industry Review Show now and also I'm sure there will be many more pictures from others at Tuttle too. Thanks to Josh Russell for hosting Brighton Tuttle and for having a huge roast dinner with me on Sunday. If you want to see the rest of my Brighton photos they're on Flickr.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, August 18, 2008 Permalink

MOO Business Cards have arrived

Remember I said I was going to put my Wordle.net word clouds about the Tube and London Underground on my first set of MOO Business Cards. Well I finally got around to ordering them & here they are:




I love them! Thanks to the MOO blog for giving me the idea in the first place.

There's a couple more photos of my MOO Business Cards here.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, August 15, 2008 Permalink

Subway system in Beijing - Olympics

Annie is in Beijing. Not me, it's another Annie who is over for the Olympics and saw my post about whether the London Underground will be ready to cope with Olympics in 2012 when they come here. She's written a great piece about the subway over in Beijing with some fab photos. So over to Annie:

"I'm Annie as well (clearly). I'm in Beijing for the Olympics and as a long-time reader (okay, a year), I felt compelled to take some photos of the Beijing system.


I hope this isn't too rambly, but thought you'd be interested given your recent post about London's preparation (or lack thereof).

They've recently had an overhaul, which is visible in the Chinese/English signage and new tube trains. Given the heat, they've brought in air-conditioned carriages. Bliss!

The running is going very well given the number of people here for the Olympics. Changes are easy to make and everything is clearly signed, including which stairs take you to an exit and which take you to another tube line.

I couldn't get a photo of security, but they're scanning all bags with an x-ray and it's all going very quickly. And I have to say, they have thought well ahead by making gates (not all, but a number at each station) that are wide enough for wheelchairs and luggage to go through where you can still use your card to enter on your own. No passing your bag through a hole or waiting for someone to open the locked door for you. Brilliant.

With an Olympic ticket, you can get free travel on any public transport the same day as your event. You show your ticket at the station and they give you a single journey ticket to get to your destination. Then when you want to go somewhere else, they just hand you another.


Everything is 2008 branded and although they've also updated their signs about not leaning on the doors, I did see a great older one of a bleeding finger (we're talking big drops of blood) on the door. Unfortunately, I couldn't get my camera out before we got off.


There are queuing marks on the floors, which everyone follows, but as soon as the doors open, you're pretty much pushed on (before the rest have gotten off!).

And I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with the new stop markings in the newer carriages (many of which look like 8-car trains but are actually 4 cars that are twice as long, joined like a bendy bus in the middle).


This is Line 2 and not only does it tell you the stop and interchanges, it also tells you which side the doors will open on and which direction you're going (clockwise or anti-clockwise)."

Annie's husband thinks she's crazy for doing this and taking the photos, but I think she's great. She said that she may have more pictures of the public transport there, so it's worth keeping an eye on her Flickr stream. Thanks Annie - you rock!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, August 15, 2008 Permalink

Tube Strike planned - 20th August 2008

There's nothing like getting a harsh bump back to the reality of real travel in London, after the delights of yesterday's Orient Express trip. I returned that evening to find that about 1,000 maintenance workers from the London Underground will be going on strike next week over pay. The members of the RMT (Rail, Maritime and Transport) union at Tube Lines will "down tools" for 72 hours. This means from noon next Wednesday 20th August to noon on Saturday August 23. The second planned 72-hour strike will begin at noon on Wednesday September 3rd and end at noon on Saturday September 6th.


I already know that it's going to be an unpopular strike with the public as I read Metro headlines about average pay rises yesterday morning. Inflation has jumped by 4.4% - average pay increases by around 3.8%. The government want to limit public sector pay rises to about 2.5% and yet the RMT reject a pay offer of 4.95%.

From Tube Lines "We believe that a pay offer of 4.95% is very competitive, especially when compared with the UK average rise of 3.7%. We are disappointed the RMT is taking this stance and passengers have every right to feel angry over the proposed action.

"The RMT's vote against the offer and the length of their proposed action defy reason and perhaps suggests there is an ulterior motive behind the rejection. They have made no secret of their desire for Tube maintenance to return to public ownership."

Yet RMT say the package was an inferior deal to one accepted on behalf of staff who had contracts with Metronet. You'll remember that Metronet collapsed last year and has been taken over by Transport for London.

Bob Crow from the RMT said "Tube Lines has made enormous profits on the backs of our members' hard work, yet they seem to expect that they will accept an inferior deal on pay, pensions and conditions. Metronet workers can join a final salary pension scheme, but Tube Lines wants to keep the door closed on it, and Tube Lines members are also denied the travel facilities that Metronet staff enjoy."

Tube Lines maintains track and trains on the Jubilee, Piccadilly and the Misery, sorry, Northern lines and operates emergency response units across the Underground network so the strike, if it goes ahead, will have very widespread effect.

Tube Lines added "Despite RMT claims that the deal is not equal to that set at Metronet, Tube Lines believes its pay and conditions are very competitive and amongst the best in the rail industry. For example, employees get 29 days of annual leave as well as eight bank holidays and employees in operational grades receive an 80% subsidy on travel. The offer also compares favourably with other pay deals agreed elsewhere this year, such as 4.6% for London Underground, 2.5% for nurses and 1.9% for police."

Welcome back to the London Underground and watch this space and the press for more news.

UPDATE - 19th August - Tube Strike still on and Tube Lines Chief Exec believes the strike is purely political and not about pay.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, August 14, 2008 Permalink

Blogging from The Orient Express thanks to Dell

So here I am on the Orient Express and it's simply the only way to travel by train, I can't believe that later tonight, I'm going to be back on the Tube and facing the usual scrum. I imagine that even first class carriages on the London Underground were not like this and in a way - it's almost too comfortable (the cushions are so plump, I have to move them away). I'm in the process of uploading photos and deciding which ones to add to my Flickr account, so watch out as the day progresses.


Obviously Dell have paid for all of us to do this trip and it's to launch their new Latitude laptops - yesterday's post went into a more details about the simultaneous webcast with San Francisco. So today was very much an opportunity to have more one on one sessions and most importantly to try the Latitudes and ask Dell's senior execs questions about where Dell were heading, what "Mobility" means to Dell and what was so great about the Latitudes.


They are going get back to me on some specific questions I had asked, as I still find it hard to understand why wireless isn't enabled on the London Underground. I know lots of people hate the idea of people using mobile phones, but if it were just enabled for computer usage (ie data rather than voice) where's the harm in that?


I have an hour and a quarter commute each way - sometimes an hour and half. That's three hours when I could be "working" or at least doing something like blogging or surfing that involved or something else that meant I wanted to use the internet.

TfL seem very commericially orientated so why aren't they getting together with Telcos and companies like Dell who can surely see the potential of even a small percentage of the 3 million people who use the Tube everyday accessing the net.


The Latitude has a new "always on" functionality, which means that more or less the minute you turn it on, you are right online and have access to your email, menus & stuff. Like the BlackBerry functionality there's no escape. Depending on your perspective that can be good or bad. But I often find it annoying waiting for my Mac to start up. If your laptop then has similar instant access to applications as your mobile phone, you can see why Dell are making noises about the PC world and mobile models meeting.


Anyway, enough of this for now, as I'm told that lunch is being served. If it's anything like the fab breakfast, we're in for a treat.

Watch this space for more & in particular the photos, as really a picture says a thousand words about the experience of travelling on the Orient Express.

UPDATE - Photos from the Orient Express are up.





You can catch up with mine and L J's reactions as things happened with our Twitter'ings - Annie Mole Twitter feeds - L J Rich Twitter feeds.

Thanks again to the fab L J Rich (pictured above in her Casey Jones train driver hat) for being a great travelling companion and getting me on the launch in the first place & thanks to the Dell Mobility Team for their most excellent hospitality. Enjoy the photos!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Wednesday, August 13, 2008 Permalink

I'm a Digital Nomad Me - Dell Latitude Launch at Altitude

Tomorrow I will be travelling on the Orient Express (how I managed to type that without screaming is beyond me), but mainly because I'm currently in a room with some of the UK's finest Tech journos - T3, Computer Weekly, PCW, What Laptop, Which Geek, you name it they're here. We're on the top floor of Altitude with a stunning view of the London skyline and joined a live webcast link to San Francisco where Dell launched their new business laptop - the Latitude.


L J Rich was a superstar and somehow persuaded them that I should be in the guest list as I would be a perfect case for "test driving" their laptops for business use. Strangely they agreed and tonight was the launch. The main theme seems to be "Business not as usual" - which I like. They've realised that the 21st century definition of where one "works" or where one does "business" is pretty much dead. It's a world of "Digital Nomads" and people who work on the move and want to work when they are travelling just as well as they might from their desks, their home offices or on the road.


Stupidly my mobile has now run out of battery power (so I'm blogging directly from a Dell XPS its consumer model) - but you can see some of the twittering I was doing from the presentation.


We've got dinner, now and an after dinner speech from another "Digital Nomad" who holds the world record for travelling the fastest around the world on a bicycle. He blogged throughout his journey and couldn't have actually done as well (apparently) without technology to record & prove where he was going. It also kept him connected with the wider world who followed his travels and kept his spirits going through commenting on his blog.

Pictures from this evening are now on my Flickr set. Press release with full specs and techie stuff for those who like that here.

See you all tomorrow where I'll be blogging from the Orient Express - HOOOOORAHHHHHH!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, August 12, 2008 Permalink

Capsule Carriages on the Tube?

If you want complete privacy on the London Underground, a designer from Australia may have just the futuristic concept for you. Jon Justice sent me a link from Treehugger.com to a design for a train with individual passenger compartments. He said it's "something that everyone manages to do on the Tube without the need for physical walls".

The capsules are the ultimate in giving you your own personal space. So no more rubbing up against your fellow commuters. No need to avoid nutters. No need to talk to anyone. No body odour, unless it's your own. Public transport without all the downsides of it being public.




Treehugger isn't wild about it and says "on a short run I think I would rather be in a big communal train car than be trapped in a phone booth like this."

Whereas Tech / Sci Fi site dvice is all over the idea "It offers far more privacy than your average train cabin — something a lot of us find ourselves wishing for, especially riding crowded subways in cities — though it sacrifices the ability to move a large quantity of space and, for some, comfort. There'd also have to be a system in place to keep people from fighting for seats, but, hey, with a lot of these on the rails, I'd happily ride them. It seems like a nice place to sit and relax if you're going a short distance."

To see more of the concepts view Hamit Kanuni Kuralkan's design portfolio.

So the question is, would you really enjoy travelling in something like this? BTW comments are working, so even if it looks as though your comment hasn't been posted it probably has. Hopefully haloscan can sort it out soon!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, August 12, 2008 Permalink

Watford Tube Link gets go ahead

A Tube link connecting part of the London Underground with local rail services in Watford is finally set to go ahead – at more than twice its original cost. The Croxley Rail Link was originally priced in 2002 for around £60 million. Now things appear a little more expensive and the extension will cost £145 million.




"Hertfordshire County Council has received approval for the £145 million Metropolitan Line extension to Watford via Watford High Street from the East of England Regional Assembly.

The council's head of transport programmes and strategy, Mike Younghusband, said: "Construction costs have inflated and the Government now takes a different approach to risk.

"By taking on the project we're agreeing to delivering the scheme on budget, whereas before if costs went up the Government would just fund it." For more & for a timeline - as this is now supposed to be completed in 2014 - see cnplus.co.uk

Stuart Pile, the county council's executive member for transport, said the announcement was a 'significant step forward'.

He further said: 'This is good news for everyone in Watford. The proposed rail link will have a major impact on relieving congestion, as well as improving transport links between London and Watford town centre.

'We are committed to this scheme. I look forward to seeing it come to fruition.'

At times like this I wish that London Connections was still operational. Maybe London Reconnections which attempts to keep the spirit of it going will spot things like this in the future and keep an eye on them. I do wonder how long it will take to finish and if, come 2014, it will have more than the budgeted 145 million quid.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, August 12, 2008 Permalink

Flatulence on the Tube

I'm sorry, I know it's childish, (I've had one of those weekends where I've been reminded of my youth) but I wanted to kick off the week with this "ad" I saw on the London Underground late last week,


How can anyone sit under a graffiti'ed advertising panel that says "I have a Flatulence problem. Please do not be offended by my odour"?

It really reminded me of the old online poker ones which said "genius" and "greedy" with a big arrow pointing down to the unfortunate passenger below:




Other things that took me back in time at the weekend were getting excited by seeing a rainbow on the way back from curlynewf's fab BBQ on Sunday:


Going to an '80s Day at Ascot & seeing Bananarama, Belinda Carlisle, ABC, Paul Young & Kid Creole and the Coconuts (full set of '80s Day at Ascot photos here)


And coming home at 6am after a night of clubbing on Friday night after the MOO Tech Terrace do.



Haven't got a taxi home with the sun rising for quite some time! Thanks to Whatleydude, Alfie & Tarek for persuading me to go & making it such fun that I stayed. Plus nice bumping into Lorrie there who recognised me from Ladyfest!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, August 11, 2008 Permalink

TfL terminating Oyster Contract

Big surprise of the day, just heard that Transport for London are terminating the £100m a year Oyster contract. Wow, was it something we said? Or is it due to the recent two Oyster card failures on the London Underground in as many weeks (which cost £1million) and general worries about hacking & playing around with the system and potential security breaches of the Oyster card system?



Shashi Verma, TfL's Director of Fares and Ticketing said: 'Transport for London is committed to delivering value for money across all of its services.

'As part of this we are looking at more cost effective ways to manage and develop the Oyster card system that we expect will save millions over the next few years.

'The savings will be reinvested to deliver further improvements in London's transport system.'

I must thank Phill Price for giving me the heads up to this.

For now the statement in the press release is all TfL are saying. It will certainly be interesting to see whether it will be replaced or if it's just going to a different supplier. It's quite hard to tell from the current, I'd say deliberately vague, statement.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, August 08, 2008 Permalink

Can the Tube cope with the Olympics?

I am soooo unsporty, so can't say I'm looking forward to the Olympics which start today. In four years time, amazingly, London will be hosting the Olympics which gives four years for the London Underground and TfL to get themselves sorted. Will they do it?


Former Mayor Ken Livingstone was pictured above announcing the longer trains that will be in place on the DLR.

But is that really enough? I'm sure more than this is being planned - I'm sure someoe will enlighten us.

I heard Ken on Heart.fm this morning saying that Beijing's will be way better than ours. Not sure he'd have been saying this if he were still Mayor, but who knows? Boris Johnson is popping along to Beijing too with a few staff that's going to cost £167,000 and £3 million on a Private members club out there for the London Development Agency.

Mmmm. Wonder if some of that cash would have been a bit better spent on our current transport system?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, August 08, 2008 Permalink

Oyster watches could get you fined

Transport for London have said that the latest "craze" for melting the chip out of an Oyster card, attaching it to your watch and magically swiping yourself through London Underground Tube gates could get you fined.


The londonpaper reported this amazing story last night, which I love on so many levels.

Firstly, I never knew that melting Oyster cards using some nail varnish remover, an empty beetroot jar and a bit of time had really turned into a "craze". You may remember my blog post about the initial Oyster card magic wand experiment some time ago.


It was incredibly popular after it was featured on the fab b3ta who said:

"This rather eccentric chap has decided he wants wave himself through the Tube turnstile with a flourish of a magic wand. So he's dissolved his Oyster card in nail varnish remover and aims to stuff the chip and antenna into a home-made wand. Undergroundio, as Harry Potter might say."

Secondly, great rent-a-quote from a ticket inspector "who did not wish to be named" who said "It's the latest thing. We're seeing more and more of it".

Thirdly, I would love to see the type of "City lads" that are using this as a "status thing" to "show off their watches". Doesn't it just advertise to potential robbers that you've got a Rolex or TAG Heuer or whatever and make you a mugging target?

Fourthly, TfL have only got themselves to blame by introducing an Oyster watch for their staff last year. Apparently 5,000 prototype Oyster wrist-watches were given to transport employees. I imagine if you're a disgruntled employee or have since left TfL that the temptation to auction these on eBay would be remarkably high.

Fifthly, the guy in the YouTube video that the Londonpaper refer to looks so much like Nathan Barley if he were transported into the 21st Century. He has an amazing array of wristbands, watches and body piercings and would make a fantastic Tube Fashion Victim.


Finally, londonpaper rock, by reporting this in the first place and then saying "Watch the Oyster sabotage vid (but don't try it yourself) at thelondonpaper.com".

Open Sesame, Undergroundio, enjoy!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, August 07, 2008 Permalink

Dollymix.tv Interview

Many thanks to one of the lovely Shiny laydeez at Dollymix.tv for interviewing me for their site. With an embarrassingly flattering introduction & a great byline "thought candy to stimulate your ladybrains" - their new editor Leila Johnston kicked off my interview with Dollymix - or rather "waited for her to surface, then clubbed her with questions":


You can read it in full here. I was really pleased to see that I didn't have to do a Giles Coren and send a ranty sweary email to them about sub-editing my answers. Plus the most brilliant thing was that they didn't ask me what my favourite London Underground station was. Hoorah!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, August 07, 2008 Permalink

Tube Door Etiquette

Of course the Japanese have a better sign trying to stop last minute door diving (door swimming) than we do. Jon Justice sent the picture below to me and also has a cautionary tale for people who try to barge their way onto London Underground trains before others have had a chance to get off.


This new sign blogged at Japanprobe compares favourably to our similar action but rather staid "Please don't hold the doors open" sign below.


Onto the cautionary tale, Jon emailed me about his Tube journey on Friday:

"I was on the Central Line at rush hour. We were all crammed in and rather hot and sweaty. As the doors opened at Bank station, a rather agressive woman pushed her way on as soon as the doors opened. A girl was trying to get off and despite a loud "excuse me", had to push past the aggressive woman.

After she managed to extricate herself from said woman, la aggressivo exclaimed loudly "Oh just f**k off, you f**king c**t." Nice.

In doing so, she jabbed her finger at the poor girl who was just trying to get off.

Unfortunately, she held her Oyster card in her jabbing hand. The poor girl just looked at her for a second and then seized the Oyster card and threw it onto the platform then turned on her heel and disappeared.

The aggressive lady was dumbstruck for a second or two and then jumped off the train in pursuit of her card. Too late she found it and turned in time to see the doors close and the train move off. My fellow passengers and I shared many amused glances and a few chuckles. It very much raised our wilting spirits.

It was one of those moments where everyone was thinking "I wish I was that quick-thinking." It's the kind of thing that normally occurs to you after you've walked away, having backed down. It was nice to see everyone in the carriage united in the same thought."

I certainly would have thought the same, wouldn't you?!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Wednesday, August 06, 2008 Permalink

Bolli off his food

My cat Bolli is well known for liking some nosh or a Nom Nom Nom with the best of us. Last night was the first time I've had him that he wasn't at the door the second he heard the key, saying "Feed Me, Feed Me Now". In fact he wasn't around at all. I shouted "Bolli" and heard a feeble mew from upstairs. He'd been sick and was lying at the top of the stairs doing a convincing impression of looking half dead.

After some frantic calls to the vet (typically it was after hours and the emergency vet number was constantly engaged) some internet searching, some hectic twittering and a long call to my friend, I calmed down a bit as was reassured by a few people. Thanks.

He wasn't doing this last night

Anyway, he's much better now, although still not entirely normal so I'm popping into the vet on the way into work to get a bit of advice and then will take him in for a proper check up.

Cats, who'd have em?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Wednesday, August 06, 2008 Permalink

Arena: Underground On The Box

Now I know how film makers and actors must feel when they look at the TV review pages. The final part of a trilogy of London Transport films (although it was actually filmed second) was shown on BBC4 on Saturday night and also repeated last night. Zimena Percival's documentary Arena - Underground featured me (mostly looking like a damn fool) in a history of the London Underground from 1863 to the present day.


As it was a repeat or an "another chance to see" showing from 2007, that meant it probably received fewer reviews this time around, than when it was first aired. So I was pleased to stumble upon the following review from "On the Box" of last night's airing.

"The final part of Arena's London Transport Trilogy doesn't seem like an ordinary documentary. It occupies an interesting niche somewhere between historical re-enactment, fly-on-the-wall docu-drama and talking head show. Which is good, as a simple history of the London Underground could get slightly tedious.

Tedious is something that this one certainly isn't. The program opens with a jerky modern view of a mother and her young son navigating the Tube system. A slightly menacing Cockney voice-over promises to tell the tale of the Underground from its origins back in the 1800s to the present day. The modern mother and son suddenly fly back in time, and we see them on board an early Tube train on their way to a public hanging in 1863.....

In order to keep things spicy, the documentary makers have cleverly spliced historic detail with frequent shots of modern life – Tube drivers giving their accounts of what life is like in dingy subterranea, a psychologist analysing Tube conduct and herd mentality, and a Tube enthusiast advising the viewer on the finer points of Tube etiquette (most important, unsurprisingly, is 'Do NOT look at anyone')."


It was also, "TV Pick of the Day" in the, err, Daily Star. Nice! It's probably the only time that something I'm in will be snuggled between Hollyoaks, EastEnders and Big Brother 9.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, August 05, 2008 Permalink

London Connections is no more

On Friday evening I made a brief Tweet on Twitter about the demise of London Connections and would like to expand on this now.


For those who didn't know (shame on you for not looking at the Favourite links in my right hand side bar), London Connections, has been a fantastic source of London Transport development projects - including London Underground, DLR, ELL and Tube stuff for almost two years.

Graham Thant, who tirelessly ran the blog, has decided to spend more time working on other projects. He said:

"You know when you're happily watching a TV show, and the credits roll, and out of nowhere the announcer says "That was the last in the present series..."? Well that's this post.

I'd love to continue working on this blog as I have done, but I'd also like to move on to other projects, and I've decided it's best to have a clean break rather than try to keep fingers in every pie.

Thanks to everyone who's read, contributed, linked, corrected, shared, prodded, praised, learnt from, ranted against, puzzled at and pored over the posts here. The archive will stay online, the email address is still working, but for time-being at least my work here is done.".

Graham was a quiet but very helpful supporter of this blog. I met him a number of times at the London Blogger's Meet Ups. We didn't see eye to eye on a number of things. I thought he was a bit of a trainspotter. He probably thought I was a loud mouthed argumentative publicity seeker. But at the end of the day he was one of the few hardcore bloggers, who with little thanks & no payment, did what he did purely out of dedication & a love for the subject matter.

There are over a 100 comments on his final post announcing sadness, thanks and shock at him hanging up his hat. I just want to add to that by saying, I'm sorry to see it go. However, I fully understand the pressure of keeping a blog like that up to date and he's made the right decision in stopping rather than keeping it going in a half hearted fashion.

Yesterday, possibly as a result of GoingUnderground.net and myself being repeated on BBC4's Tube Night on Saturday evening (Arena's - Underground is repeated tonight if you missed it), I was approached by a guy wanting to buy goingunderground.net. I spent ooh, a second thinking about it, and the answer was "Sorry no - not for all the tea in China".

Although I don't really update Goingunderground.net much anymore, I still think nostalgically of it as my main site. It began in 1999 and led to the blog in 2003 and I can't really see myself ever selling it. Perhaps the potential buyer might like to join forces with a number of commenters on London Connections who are offering to contribute to keep it going. Someone's even offering server space and design skills.

We'll see.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, August 04, 2008 Permalink

Onya Bag Competition Winners!

Thanks to all who entered the competition for the Onya Bags. I don't know if it because I'm looking out for them, but I seriously am seeing more and more people with Onya Bags on the London Underground


I saw this one last week and I also saw a few at the Innocent Village Fete, but the heavens were opening when I saw those so didn't get my camera out to snap them.

Onya Bags very kindly gave me a bundle of bags, just for changing a URL to point to their UK site rather than their parent Aussie site. So rather than keep all of them, I decided to share the booty & set a competition a couple of weeks ago.

Here's a reminder of the questions:

1. Have a look at the post about the London Transport Museum. There's an error in one of the photos - if you're the first person to spot the error I'm thinking of, you get an Onya backpack.

2. Goldfrapp were playing at Lovebox, they performed Happiness, which is my new favourite track of theirs. (Update to say "performed" Happiness at Lovebox was an understatement - it was mind blowingly mad - photos from Lovebox here) Who's the best dancer at the end of the video & why? Person I think has the best reason gets an Onya original bag.


3. That leaves two bags. I'll get Onya involved in this one. Just tell us why you want an Onya bag. The two answers that me & Onya like the most will get an Onya original bag each.

So the winners from the entries are:

1. Philip Ferris who was first in with the typo on the Where 2 Gov cocktail

2. Jon Justice who said "It's got to be the little kid with the afro. Everyone else is bouncing and he's just shuffling round trying to keep up. And I like that before he "dances", he's clapping out of sync with everyone else."

3. The Onya guys judged this and said: "Hi Annie - A group decision in the office and we think the person named Aine and the pretty please first lady". So that's Aine (pronounced Onya) & Joe_90.

Well done to all of you, I've emailed you for your address details and a big thanks once again to the guys and girls at Onya Bags.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, August 04, 2008 Permalink

Innocent Village Fete 2008 Photos

If you've been travelling on the London Underground for the last month or so, you can't have failed to see the ads for the Innocent Village Fete - another of London's summer festivals. Me and some friends went last year on the hottest day of the year, although unfortunately the weather in London wasn't so great this weekend.


When I left Kew on Saturday the sun was shining brilliantly, but it had been drizzling all morning, so I went prepared for rain. I felt bit of a fool twittering at the station in my Converses with an umbrella, plastic ground sheet / poncho, long jeans and more long sleeved things in my bag.

However, with that typical four seasons in one day Englishness, by the time I was walking through Regent's Park, there was a torrential downpour of rain and various peeps I was meeting there were Twittering & texting me stuff about the inclement weather (Rachel Clarke, Niamh, Anna Mondo & Curlyluddite)


I could see why I knew I wouldn't like festival camping as we splattered & sploshed our way across Regent's Park trying to find a dry spot. But as if by magic, within about ten minutes the sky had cleared, the sun came out to the cheers of other Village Fete'ites and the day turned out nice again.

As usual with Festivals I find that photos tell more than I ever could (Lovebox being a good example). But in case you don't know Innocent (they're the guys that make smoothies and other drinks in the UK) try to keep the English Village Fete theme going in a massive park that's filled with thousands of people. Personally, I think that the "stall holders" last year got into the Village Fete feel a bit more. But there was still plenty of Welly Wanging, knitting, paper hat making, music & fringe events to go round:



I'd completely forgotten that James from the Tube Carriage Offices in the Sky was going to be there with his theatre group Nabokov.


So it was lovely to be warmly greeted by him by the Village Voice Tent. He explained that their ideas tree (pictured above) was for people to hang ideas in a tree which would then be performed by them later this year.

We ended the day lazing in the sun drinking frozen Margaritas (like the Emergency Tube Margaritas but frozen) and listening to a guy playing music in the Big Wheel area.


There was a massive farmer's market at the Fete too, so we had plenty of nice food to eat. I even spotted a nod to The Times Food reviewer & TV bloke Giles Coren (who went ballistic about the word "a" being subbed out of his review) as we left:


My full set of photos from the Innocent Village Fete are here. If you went along, I'd love to know what you thought of the days.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Sunday, August 03, 2008 Permalink

London Underground Fashion Victims

Fashion Victims on the Tube

I've not done a Friday look at the TFV's or Tube Fashion Victims for ages and ages. Mainly because commuters are dressing a lot better or I'm not able to get my camera out quickly enough to spot the howlers. So this week is a mixture of people who are uber trend setting and looking pretty OK with it or those who errr ... aren't. The original concept was commuters who will follow a trend regardless of how it makes them look or who've taken a look and made it their own.

First up we have some good looks.

The Agyness Deyn Look

If she was taller and had the new pudding bowl / Mr Spock haircut she's be dead ringer for super model / singer Agyness Deyn


She's got the cropped white blonde hair. The bloke's checked shirt. The cool short jeans that aren't shorts. Good job.

The Twiggy Bag

Regular readers will remember how I called those cropped 3/4 length trousers that loads of women wore in the winter and autumn "Twiggy Trousers", after sixties model icon Twiggy turned around the fortunes of M & S by advertising them. Well they've now bought out a bag which reminds us of Twiggy's roots.


I like it. It's green. It's retro. It stands out amongst the many other "I'm not a plastic bag" bags. Good job.

Now onto the not so good ones.

Not so shiny shoes

I've seen a number of women with these shiny foil shoes on the Tube and there must be some kind of fault with them in that they're not designed to be worn more than once!


This woman's were looking better than I've seen a lot of them look, but it kinda defeats the object of having ultra shiny shoes if they're going to make you look "like a homeless".

The fugly furry boots in Summer

There's not really much to say about these boots that hasn't been said before.




They're simply wrong.

The Indecisive Look

Finally, when you just can't decide what colour leggings to wear:


Wear red and yellow.

That's it for now. I actually can't remember when I last did a victims post so I'm linking to the first canine fashion victim - Elvis.


You can find out more about Elvis here and the complete picture gallery of all the TFV's can be seen on the following Flickr set.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, August 01, 2008 Permalink

Drunks on Trains & Mobile Geeks of London

Coming home late from Mobile Geeks of London last night, I bought a bagel at Waterloo and hopped onto a Richmond bound train home. I was tired and virtually sleeping as I was munching my bagel with my eyes closed. Was woken up by a bloke saying loudly "Have a good chomp there girl". I looked up to see a bloke sitting opposite me, very red faced and sucking loudly on a lollipop.

I carried on eating and tried to read my paper. "Enjoying that are you?". "Oh please shut up" I thought and nodded to show that I had sort of acknowledged him.

"Are you a probation officer?" he said, still sucking the lollipop. At this point I had to stop him. No one calls me a probation officer and gets away with it.

"Why do I look like a probation officer?" I asked wearily.
"Cos you're wearing boots".
I wasn't, it was fooking hot, I don't wear boots in the summer time. (see today's Tube Fashion Victim post)
"Oh no you're not are you?" he said. I was wearing cropped jeans. "They just looked like boots for a bit". That's because he was way more wazzed than I was.

He then asked me if the guy sitting opposite me with his head buried into a Blackberry was my "fella". "No he's not" I said even more wearily.

"Well he should be he's a handsome bloke" he then turned to the guy and said "You are you're a handsome bloke". He turned back to me "He is isn't he?". Oh Jesus please shut up and continue to suck your lollipop and leave us in peace, I thought. "He's alright", I replied.

He then got bored with me and asked the "handsome bloke" why he was typing into his BlackBerry. I closed my eyes and thanked my lucky stars he was more interested in bloke with the BlackBerry.

BlackBerry bloke handled him well, by saying he was a sad geek to be typing so much at that time of night, but it was just what he did. Lollipop drunk bloke seemed to think that was OK and then talked at all of us about where were getting off (We ignored him) and that Virginia Waters was rubbish as he bet we were getting off at Virginia Waters (we weren't).

Actually, all three of us got off at Richmond but fortunately Lollipop drunk bloke got up quite early to ramble to people further down the carriage. We made a last minute exit hoping he wasn't going collar us again at Richmond.

Other than that Mobile Geeks of London was a fun night full of Geeks taking photos of each other and a surprise appearance by Brian May!





A few more photos here and I hope that no one else accuses me of looking like a probation officer today!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, August 01, 2008 Permalink